Traveling crane



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. WOOD.

TRAVELING CRANE.

No. 433,156. Patented July 29,1890.

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(No Model.) 2 Sh eets-Sheet 2.

WOOD. TRAVELING URANE.

No. 433,156. Patented July 29, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VALTER IVOOD, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRAVELING CRANE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,156, dated July 29, 1890.

Application filed March 27, 1 890. Sen'al No. 345,611. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER WooD, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traveling Cranes, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

For convenience of description the three movements which are necessary in a traveling crane maybe classified as follows: First, the bridge movement or travel of the crane as a whole along its ways; second,the trolley movement or travel of the trolley along the bridge, and, third, the lifting movement, whereby the fall-block or other device suspended beneath the trolley and carrying the weight is raised or lowered.

As heretofore constructed traveling cranes have embodied various devices for affecting these three movements, the actuating mechanism or source of power being sometimes mounted upon the bridge itself and in other cases at points independent thereof. In some instances the lifting movement and the trolley movement have been obtained by means of ropes, chains, or cables actuated from a point independent of the structure, and in applications filed simultaneously herewith, being Serial Nos. 34:5,612, 345,013, and 345,614, respectively, I have described and claimed devices for effecting the bridge movement and the trolley movement, or the bridge movement and lifting movement, by means of the same rope, and a device for effecting all three movements by individual ropes, the ropes in all these cases being actuated from points independent of the structure.

The object of my present invention is to derive all three movements from the same rope and from a point of actuation equally independent of the structure.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a partial view of the bridge, trolley, and fall-block, the longitudinal ways for the travel of the bridge being merely indicated, since the structure thereof and the re lation of the bridge thereto is well understood. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of the said device in which the arrangement of the rope is slightly different.

Referring to Fig. 1, A represents the traveling bridge, and B the trolley mounted to travel from end to end thereof upon rollers in the usual manner. Said trolley is provided with a pair of pulleys G C, journaled independently of the trolley-rollers and arranged, as shown, to permit the descent of the rope to the fall-block. Each of said pulleys C C is provided with a brake E or E, controlled by suitable devices-such as levers F, having hand-ropes G-and at the opposite ends of the bridge are horizontal pulleys D D, respectively, each similarly controlled by brakes N N, having levers and hand-ropes O 0, respectively. The actuating-rope I leads from anysuitable point independent of the bridgesuch as, for instance, one of a pair of hydraulic plungers J-over a guiding-pulley K, thence around the pulley D on one end of the bridge, thence over the proximate pulley C upon the trolley, and down through the fallblock P. Thence it ascends over the other pulley C upon the trolley, and thence leads to the other end of the bridge, Where it passes around the horizontal pulley D to guiding and supporting pulleys L M, arranged at or near the end of the tracks upon which the bridge travels. After passing around the pulley M the ropes return over the actuatingpulley K to the actuating device, such as a second hydraulic plunger J.

It is of course to be understood that in indicating the pair of hydraulic plungers as the actuating mechanism, I do not intend to limit my invention to the use of such form of mechanism, and they are only to be taken as indicating a convenient type, for which other known devices adapted to the-purpose maybe substituted. Thus in case it is desired to use a continuous rope it might be coiled around a drum in such manner that when one end was wound up the other would be paid off by the same motion, and it is of course to be understood that where a pair of plungers, like those in the drawings, are used their movements are in proper correspondence to permit this motion of the rope.

The brakes N N upon the pulleys D D of the bridge and the brakes E E upon the pulleys O C of the trolley are of such construction that when applied they check the movement of the rope relatively to the pulley to which they are applied, so that that point becomes temporarilya fixed anchoringpoint for the rope.

The operation of the device shown in Fig. 1 is as follows: \Vhen itis desired to produce the bridge movement without a'tfectin g either the position of the trolley upon the bridge or the height of the fall-block, the brakes N N are applied. Thereupon all that portion of the rope which is intermediate between the two ends of the bridge becomes temporarily inactive and all the parts connected with said intermediate portion maintain their relation to the bridge unchanged. It now the plunger J be made to descend so as to draw upon the rope, and in correspondence with such movement the plunger J rises to pay off the rope, the bridge Will be moved toward the plungers or to the right in Fig. 1. The converse movement of the plungers will move the bridge in.

the opposite direction or to the left in Fig. 1. If now it is desired to produce the trolley movement along the bridge without affecting the position of the bridge itself or the height of the fall-block above the ground, the brakes N N are released and the brakes E E are applied. Thereupon the bight of the rope (or that portion which is between the pulleys .O 0) becomes temporarily inactive and the proper movement of the plungers J J will shift the trolley in one direction or the other along the bridge, the height of the fallblock remaining constant and the position of the bridge upon its tracks being unchanged.

To produce the lifting movement, all the brakes are released and both plungers J J may be depressed, or one of them maybe depressed, while the other remains stationary. The lowering movement of the fall-block is of course produced by the converse action of the plunger-s. It will thus be seen that from a single point, or one which is theoretically single and which is independent of the structure, I am enabled to produce by a single rope all three movements, each movement being eifected practically independently of the others, or in such manner that all the relations, except the particular one which it is desired to affect, remain unchanged.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings the parts act upon the same principle, and are indicated by small letters corresponding to the large ones upon the other figure; but I have adopted a convenient modification of the device whereby the'return of the rope to the actuating device is efiectedthat is to say, the rope 2' starts from the plungerj and passes over a guiding-pulley k, and thence around a horizontal pulley d upon one end of the bridge a. Thence it passes over a pulley 0 upon the trolley down to the fall-block p, and up over the second trolleypulley c to a pulley (1' upon the opposite end of the bridge. Instead of passing away from the bridge at this point, the rope it returns along said bridge to a pulley (Z upon that end of the bridge at which the rope first entered it, and thence, after passing around the pulley m at or near the end of one track, it returns over the pulley k to the second pluner 6 Tire action of the brake mechanism and the operat-ioirof the rope to produce the several motions is precisely the same in this embodiment of my invention as in the other case, and I therefore do not deem it necessary to describe the same in detail.

In the foregoing specification a single actuating-rope, has been described and shown as the simplest embodiment of my invention; but it must be understood that I contemplate the duplication of said rope in cases where it may be desirable to perfectly balance the strain on both sides of the structure. Such duplicate rope would be arranged as a counterpart to the one shownthat is to say, it would lead to the bridge at the end where the first rope leaves it and would leave the bridge Y at the end where the first rope enters. Such duplication of the rope would, however, in no way change the principle of my invention, whose embodiment I claim as follows:

In a traveling crane, the combination of longitudinal ways, a transverse bridge adapted to travel thereon, a trolley adapted to travel along said bridge, pulleys arranged at each end of said bridge, and pulleys arranged, substantially as described, upon said trolley, brakes for said bridge-pulleys, brakes for said trolley-pulleys, a rope passing from a point of actuation independent of the structure to one end of said bridge, thence over the trolleypulley, thence descending in abight and rising to the other trolley-pulley, said bight being provided with a fall-block, substantially as described, thence passing around a pulley at the other end of said bridge, thence passing to a point at or near the end of the bridgeways, and thence passing to the actuatingpoint, and actuating mechanism for said rope, substantially as set forth.

WALTER \VOOD. lVitnesses:

JAMES H. BELL, HENRY U. PAUL, Jr. 

